


Softly shaking.

by PinkLion



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Demon Virgil, Demonic Possession, Fluff, M/M, More characters to be added, Multi, Pre-Episode: Accepting Anxiety, Slow Burn, and is open to the readers to a point, but he gets nicer dw, relationships will be added later - Freeform, so Roman is kinda a jerk to start off with, the sides all live together in an apartment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-15 01:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21245564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkLion/pseuds/PinkLion
Summary: Secrets secrets are no fun, secrets secrets hurt someone.Virgil's only goal is to survive, get through life, keep his head down and control the insatiable demon that possess his mind. His busy life leaves no room for friends, so when he replied to the ad for a new roommate he thinks its an easy way to save money. But with a roommate who is desperate to become his friend and another who looks like he wants to kill him for breathing, he thinks his only salvation is the last roommate who pays little attention to him, until he slips up and reveals the truth.





	1. Deep breaths

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, I hope you enjoy this! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, and if you think I forgot to tag something please tell me. Happy reading!

Quietly Virgil opened the front door, trying not to wake up his housemates. He let out a sigh of relief at the dark hall, he didn’t bother turning in the lights as he shut the door behind him, ensuring it was locked. Entering the kitchen for a drink he saw a plate covered by a glass bowl, a note sat atop it in swirly writing it read, 

“Virgil,  
I hope you had a good day!  
Here are some leftovers from dinner in case you were hungry :D  
Patton,” 

There was a cute drawing of a cat next to his name and Virgil allowed a grateful smile to grace his face. He heard a dark chuckle reverberate through his skull but elected to ignore the taunt and hiss of insults that flitted across his brain for a moment. With a sigh Virgil tucked the note into his jacket pocket to put with the others, he took the bowl off the plate and grimaced. The food was lovingly made, the thought of throwing it away seemed like a crime, he was tempted to eat it, his finger traced the plate landing on the fork that had been placed on the plate. With a deep breath Virgil grabbed a forkful of food and shoved it in his mouth, it was all he could take not to spit it out immediately barely containing the gag as he dropped the fork on the table with a clatter. After swallowing the taste of ash coated his mouth and Virgil couldn’t help the cough that escaped him as he ran to get a glass of water to drown out the taste. He felt his eyes tear up as frustration sunk in his chest, he took a moment to breath to calm himself. 

There was amused laughter echoing in his head and he spat out a curse at the demon inside his brain, which did little to quell the taunts. The demon had been especially active the past day, Virgil felt a familiar anxiety well up in his chest that had settled there for the past few days. It was getting harder to push aside as time ticked on, with a huff Virgil pushed off the counter he was leaning on and picked up the plate of food. 

He scraped the remains in the trash shutting the lid with a dull thud, he hissed in surprise as the light switched on leaving him blinking rapidly to see the figure stood in the kitchen doorway. Roman was fixing Virgil with a glare, dressed in only pyjama bottoms covered in crowns, exposing his almost flawless skin and toned abs. 

“What do you think you are doing?” Roman growled, 

“Geez way to sneak up on a guy,” Virgil snapped back, 

“Patton worked hard to cook that,” Roman continued undeterred, glaring daggers at Virgil who matched his stare, looking more intimidating due to his pale face and dark eyes.

“So, what, why do you care?” Virgil sneered at the other, 

“Patton is one of my dearest friends, I don’t want him to get hurt by ungrateful emo nightmare, I honestly don’t know why he tries so hard,” Roman crossed his arms as he matched Virgil’s sneer. Virgil rolled his eyes ignore the spike of hurt as he continued to glare at the other,

“Get over yourself Prince,” Virgil spat back as he dumped his plate in the sink and pushed past the other to shut himself in his room. Virgil pushed the hurt to the back of his mind as he locked his door and sat at his desk. He immersed himself in work typing away the burning hurt simmering in his stomach as he tried his hardest to ignore the lies of the demon. 

-

Virgil sat in his room, his back hunched over his laptop, his hand rubbed his eyes and moved through his hair as he typed furiously. A cold hand trailed up his back causing him to shiver but he kept his eyes scanning his screen as the inky blackness crept up his spine, this wasn’t new he could handle it. As he continued typing, he felt the hand grip the back of his neck warningly, with a huff he got up from his chair and walked to his door flinging it open as he made his way to the kitchen. Logan caught him while he had his head in the fridge door, 

“Virgil?” He questioned, with no energy all Virgil could muster was a deadpan look at the other, he was aware of the blackness that had overtaken his eyes and his startlingly black veins, one taken back look from the other was enough to tell him, despite himself he bared his teeth at the other, 

“They needed something,” he growled, though he wasn’t trying to be particularly aggressive to the other, he was aware of his threatening demeanour as the other took a step back. 

“Oh,” Was all Logan could choke out as he looked torn between running away or further prompting the other. Virgil couldn’t care less as he further rummaged though the fridge, muttering old words as the hand insistently grabbed at his neck making it more difficult to breathe. Virgil pulled out a jar of shimmering black liquid and slipped the lid off before downing it in one, sighing as he felt the hand retract and grab at the inside of his throat, an uncomfortable but not painful feeling. He’d forgotten about the other in the room for a moment and was made aware of Logan as the other shifted on the spot still debating. 

“Forget what you just saw L, it’s just makeup,” Virgil grumbled before fleeing back to his room ensuring to shut the door behind him. Virgil was pulled into bed by the same hand the only light in the room was that of the laptop screen which slowly closed as he was encouraged to shut his eyes. The rest of his night was full of various nightmares resulting in very little sleep. But this was the average night for the other, it’s what he got for making a deal with a demon.


	2. Chapter 2

As the sun rose dim light made its way into Virgil’s room. Virgil blinked, tears now dried on his face as he stared at the window in his room, the sun only a painful reminder of his lack of sleep. Head pounding Virgil slowly got up his body screaming for sleep, coffee would have to do for now. As he padded to the kitchen, he noticed he had slept in his clothes, in fact they were the same clothes he’d been wearing for the past three days, with a sigh he added shower on his to do list. It was only six am, so he hadn’t expected anyone to be awake but to his surprise, and only a little dismay, Logan was sat at the kitchen table a steaming cup of what Virgil could only assume was green tea loosely held in his hand. 

“Good morning Virgil,” Logan greeted coolly, Virgil grumbled in response and made his way to the coffee machine preparing a pot of coffee,

“You know, you’re a terrible liar,” Logan noted as he stared into his mug, 

“How’d you figure that?” Virgil asked his voice gravely and dry. He knew exactly what this was about, he felt the anxiety crawl up and down his skin and sink into his chest the moment he saw Logan, he was almost too tired to care, his flight or fight sense dulled from fatigue. 

“If it really was makeup and you just washed it off then how come your usual makeup is still smudged all over your face,” Logan sipped on his tea and Virgil noted the slight shake of the others hand and the sharp breath the other took when Virgil moved to sit opposite him while he waited for his coffee, Logan’s fear bit at Virgil a little but he was used to it, this wasn’t the first time he’d had a conversation like this, though it was one of the calmest. 

“So, what?” Virgil questioned, his voice void of emotion.

“Virgil, I have tried to think of an appropriate explanation, but I seem to be stuck, could you please divulge what the fuck happened last night?” Logan’s voice wavered his calm mask fading quickly, Virgil sighed looking away from Logan for a moment to mull over his words, wondering what lie he could scrounge up that would be at least semi believable, 

“Skin condition?” Virgil tested the waters, but Logan gave him an unamused look, not convinced. 

“Please don’t patronise me,” Logan adjusted his glasses, the shake from his hands had gone, 

“Why do you need to know so much Lo? Maybe you were just seeing things,” Virgil looked into the stormy grey of Logan’s own eyes trying to read the other, with little success, 

“I need an explanation Virgil, there is no sense to what I saw last night, your face, your eyes that strange black liquid that is nowhere to be found in the fridge anymore, it has no explanation.” Logan looked as if his whole façade was about to completely fade and Virgil felt guilt well up in his eyes. 

“What do you want me to say?” Virgil tried reluctant to give the bizarre truth away before testing Logan’s willingness to listen. 

“The truth Virge, I like to believe that we are close, you are one of the calmer people who live in this apartment and that makes for an adequate alliance, I can ignore your unhealthy sleep schedule and brush aside your questionable eating habits, but this? I need to get involved in this, because despite not know exactly what it is, I know it’s big.” Logan sighed looking down at the table his face looking almost hurt and Virgil felt bad for keeping all this from him. 

“Lo, I… It’s just that, it’s not exactly normal,” Virgil sighed, he couldn’t bare to see Logan so distressed, he didn’t want this to go wrong, he’d worked so hard to seem normal to try and keep these people from running away, he couldn’t stand a repeat of what happened last time. 

“I don’t care, whatever it is, I want to know,” Logan gave Virgil a levelled look, 

“Okay, the truth is,” Virgil sighed averting his gaze from the other, “I made a deal with a demon which now possess me and I kinda have to feed it this weird black substance that I keep hidden away or it’ll go out of control crazy,” Virgil spoke fast and kept his eyes screwed shut, he expected a number of reactions from the other and as the silence dragged on it only made him more nervous. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked through his bangs at the other whose expression was torn between shock and disbelief. Virgil remained silent waiting for the other to throw a fit, to laugh at him, try and exorcize him, hit him, anything, any of the countless reactions he had received over the years but the other took on a calculating expression looking him up and down making Virgil squirm, 

“Virgil you know, I’ve never been very good at understanding jokes,” Logan huffed at the other, though his expression remained calculating, 

“I’m not kidding Logan,” Virgil muttered still refusing to look at the other. 

“Why would you make a deal with a demon?” Logan narrowed his eyes at the other scornfully, Virgil folded his arms, 

“It’s not like I expected it to work, how the hell would I know demons were real?” Virgil almost growled, memories of the deal flashing in his mind. He felt a shiver down his spine as the demon laughed inside his head, 

“No matter, what do you mean by possess, does it control you?” Logan asked, Virgil snapped his head towards the other, 

“Wait you actually believe me?” He narrowed his eyes cautiously at the other, 

“I trust you Virgil, I have to admit, there is plenty of evidence of the existence of demons out there and I can’t say I didn’t suspect something was uh, different about you,” Logan adjusted his glasses, he didn’t look angry or mocking and Virgil held onto the hope that rose in his chest at the others understanding, 

“Wait so you assumed I was possessed?” Virgil questioned a small smirk forming on his face, 

“Well I thought something more uh, grounded I guess,” Logan momentarily glanced away from the other, 

“Anyway, I appreciate you believing me, can’t say that’s happened so easily before,” Virgil scratched his arm eyes flickering to the table, 

“You didn’t answer my question,” Logan pointed out gaining the others attention again, 

“Oh uh, what question?” Virgil asked, 

“Does the demon control you?” Logan folded his hands together and rested his head on them giving Virgil a curious look,

“Oh uh, not really, it uh doesn’t have that power unless it gets really hungry or if I uh get too scared,” Virgil momentarily looked away from the other, unpleasant memories surfacing on his mind, he felt a sickeningly warmth at the back of his neck and couldn’t stop the hand that flew to rub at it hoping to alleviate the feeling. 

“And is that black substance all it eats?” Logan prodded, 

“Well it’ll do, it prefers people but for obvious reasons that aint happening.” Virgil looked at Logan who seemed to be brimming with questions,

“Why aren’t you more freaked out over this?” Virgil questioned, Logan’s acceptance was making him uncomfortable,

“I’ve had some, uh, experiences in my life that has given me an open mind about these things, in the past I have researched the evidence towards the existence of magic and demons and while there is no hard evidence, I cannot deny the possibility of it.” Logan took a sip of his tea, his face turned as it had grown stone cold during their conversation. A beat of silence fell between the two but was interrupted by the beep of the coffee machine, Virgil got up to grab himself a large mug putting plenty of sugar in it. He leaned on the kitchen counter staring into the mug, he didn’t want to answer any more questions but for the first time in his life there was someone who believed him and wasn’t trying to immediately kill him, he couldn’t ruin that. 

“Do any of the others know?” Logan finally asked and Virgil shook his head, 

“They can’t know Logan,” Virgil couldn’t help the desperation dripping from his voice, 

“Maybe it’s best to tell them,” Logan suggested, 

“No, it’s better if they don’t know, Logan you can’t tell them,” Virgil felt panic rise in his voice. Before either could get another word in Patton padded downstairs yawning before greeting the other two, 

“mm morning guys, what you doing up so early Virge?” Patton gave him a sleepy smile as he grabbed himself a mug of coffee, not bothering to put anything in it before he began preparing some breakfast, 

“Couldn’t sleep,” Virgil grumbled, 

“Oh, wanna talk about it?” Patton tried, and Virgil shook his head looking down into his mug, 

“Okay,” Patton kept most of the hurt out of his voice though his face was understanding, Virgil was glad he had been respectful of his privacy so far. Virgil shared a glance with Logan before he mouthed at him ‘don’t tell’ to which Logan nodded in understanding, Virgil downed his coffee and poured himself another mug, today was going to be a long day.

As Patton began preparing breakfast, Virgil went for a shower, his instincts told him he needed to keep an eye on Logan and make sure he didn’t say anything to Patton, but he was practically falling asleep stood up, he needed a cold shower to wake him up. 

After a sort but cold shower Virgil got changed and made his way to the kitchen feeling only slightly better. Patton had made them all pancakes and Virgil kept the look of disgust from his face, he hadn’t been able to taste anything for a long time and everything had a distinct burnt taste to it no matter how it had been cooked. There was a place set for him at the table, there always was no matter how many times Virgil refused to eat Patton’s cooking. 

Roman opened his door and strode into the kitchen sniffing the air, 

“Padre you have to tell me how you make you cooking smell so delicious,” Roman gave Patton a grin as he rummaged in the fridge for some orange juice, 

“It’s my secret ingredient,” Patton giggled as he set a large stack of pancakes on the table along with syrup and other toppings. Logan emerged from his room now fully dressed in his usual attire. He sat at the table topping a few pancakes with various fruits, 

“Will you be joining us Virgil?” Patton asked a hopeful look shone in his eyes and Virgil felt himself cave at the others genuine hope, even as he agreed he heard the demon laugh at him calling him weak. He also felt the glare of Roman who eyed him suspiciously, he was always suspicious of Virgil who never left his room for too long apart from when he had to work. 

Patton seemed genuinely excited as he sat in his own seat with a grin, Virgil felt a small smile tug his lips at the other’s enthusiasm, he sat down next to Logan and grabbed a single pancake debating whether or not to add any toppings to avoid looking weird, it’s not like he’d be able to taste it unless he drowned it in sugar. Deciding that it would be the only way he could eat without gagging he decided to drown the single pancake in syrup, he ignored the pointed stare from Roman and the curious glance from Logan who looked on the edge of asking a bunch of questions. 

“Dig in guys!” Patton announced eating a forkful of his own food, Roman followed suit closing his eyes and sighing at the taste, 

“You’ve outdone yourself Pat,” he grinned, and Patton gave a small laugh as his cheeks dusted red. Virgil took a small bite being careful to keep his face neutral as he chewed, he took a sip of water to drown the taste and mentally cursed the demon as it mocked his efforts. He felt Roman glance at him disapprovingly and he ducked his head down to check his phone, a few texts and e-mails to look through. He glanced at the time and almost cursed aloud as he quickly stood from his seat, 

“I’m running late, thanks for the food Pat,” Virgil flashed him a rare small smile as he passed the other to put his shoes on and grab his bag and keys before he set off to his work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the last :') but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Again, this isn't beta read, if someone is available to do so hmu. Next chapter will be next week ish.


End file.
